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Breaking the Fourth Wall
Breaking the fourth wall is a comedy device used in fictional stories in which a character acknowledges the fact they are a character in a movie or television show, and are actually aware of being such. Listed here are scenes in Disney movies and television shows where the characters break the fourth wall. Films Cartoon Shorts * Mickey's Amateurs - At the very end of the short, when Donald finishes reciting "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", the iris-out suddenly shuts around his neck, and he pulls it open to get himself unstuck. * Get A Horse! - Most of the short revolves around Mickey and company being shot out of the screen and interacting with the screen itself. ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit *Roller Coaster Rabbit'' - While Roger Rabbit was riding the roller coaster, he almost went out of the film. Disney animated features ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, ''The Tigger Movie and Winnie the Pooh (2011) *The characters often speak to the Narrator and use the book as part of the scenery (such as when Tigger used the book to get out of the tree). ''Aladdin *Genie brings out a script for Aladdin and whispers, "You're line is: 'I'm going to free the genie,'" and it happens again when Genie calls Jafar "a tall, dark and sinister ugly man." *At the end of the film, Genie lifts up the screen. The Lion King *During one part of the song "Hakuna Matata", Pumbaa almost said, "Every time that I farted," but Timon cuts him off warning, "Pumbaa, not in front of the kids!" (referencing the audience un-seen animal kids and Simba). The Hunchback of Notre Dame *At the end of the film, Hugo says, directly to the audience, "Good night, everybody!" The Wild *At the end of the film, Kazar pops his head through the iris-out, which chokes him. Nigel then shoves him away and apologizes to the audience, telling them to carry on. Bolt *A meta-example would entail the entire story of Bolt realizing he's just a character in a TV show. Wreck-It Ralph *All of the characters (save the Cy-Bugs) from their respective video games are aware of their position in life (to be video game characters). **At one instance, Ralph throws his medal at the screen, causing the sheet to fall off. Live-action Features Mary Poppins *In the beginning of the film, Bert notices the viewer. After being asked, he shows the viewer the route to 17 Cherry Tree Lane, along with some of the residents. James and the Giant Peach *At the end of the film, the Magic Man addresses the audience and then winks at them before the screen fades to black. George of the Jungle and George of the Jungle 2 *At one point in the first film, Lyle Van de Groot can be seen fighting with the Narrator. Near the end of the second film, Lyle insults the Narrator, who then drags him out of the movie into the sky. Muppet Films The Muppet Movie *The film itself is mainly presented within the framing device of the characters watching a movie, the following are instances of the fourth wall being broken in the movie-within-the-movie: ** Kermit comments on Hare Krishna becoming a running gag. ** In a particularly meta-fictional plot twist, Kermit and Fozzie actually give a copy of the screenplay to Dr. Teeth, who later uses it to find and rescue them after they have been stranded in the desert. ** In regards to the Miss Bogen County Beauty Pageant, Charlie McCarthy comments to the audience, "You're not gonna believe who the winner is, folks." Edgar Bergen replies, "Oh, come now, Charlie, it's their movie." ** Sweetums literally breaks through the fourth wall when he bursts into the screening room as he finally catches up with the Muppets at the end of the film. * The film ends with Animal looking directly into the camera and telling the audience to "go home!" The Great Muppet Caper * Fozzie, Kermit and Gonzo comment on the opening credits as they appear on screen. * During the opening musical number "Hey a Movie!," Kermit talks directly to the audience about the roles that he and Fozzie and Gonzo will play in the film and says, "I wish I were you people seeing this for the first time!" *When Mike Tarkanian asks Kermit what makes him so sure there will be a "next time," Kermit responds: "Well, if there isn't, it'll be a very short movie." * When Miss Piggy asks Lady Holiday why she's sharing her entire back story, Lady Holiday responds "It's plot exposition. It has to go somewhere." * Kermit tells one of the guest stars (Peter Falk), after a meandering monologue, that they're "trying to do a movie here." * Kermit and Miss Piggy break character and start arguing over her acting skills by the duck pond. * Miss Piggy calls out Nicky's musical talent by saying, "You can't even sing! Your voice was dubbed!" * At one point a truck driver (Peter Ustinov) questions the presence of Oscar the Grouch, to which Oscar says he's there doing "a very brief cameo," Ustinov looks at the camera and says "me too." *When asked why he's doing all this, Nicky Holiday responds: "Because I'm the villain! It's pretty plain and simple." The Muppet Christmas Carol * Acting as narrators, Gonzo (as Charles Dickens) and Rizzo the Rat frequently break the fourth wall as they provide narration and commentary on the events of the film. While the duo often speaks directly to the viewer, they rarely interact with the other characters and the story itself - a notable exception is when they step in to correct Sam Eagle's declaration of it being the "American way" to being the "British way." Muppet Treasure Island *Rizzo the Rat comments when Billy Bones has his heart attack: "He died? And this is supposed to be a kid's movie!" *Statler comments on being "stuck to the front of this stupid ship," and Waldorf replies, "Well, it could been worse. We could be stuck in the audience!" *A line in the "Cabin Fever" song says, "I'd like to get my hands on whoever wrote this script". *Clueless Morgan comments on the "Cabin Fever" musical number. *Long John Silver gives his crewmates stage directions during the "Professional Pirate" number, saying "Upstage, lads, this is my only number" as they carry him across the camp. *A tomato on the Swedish Chef's ingredient tray says, "How else did you think we were going to get him into this movie?" (after which the Chef whacks it with a large mallet). *A rat conducts a tour of the island referring to the place as the location for the movie ''Muppet Treasure Island. *Statler comments that saving Smollett and Benjamina made them heroes, and Waldorf replies, "Well, it was too late to save the movie!" ''The Muppets * While meeting with Tex Richman, Statler comments that if he didn't know any better, he'd say Waldorf was "reciting some sort of important plot point." Waldorf responds, "I hope so. Otherwise I would've bored half the audience half to death." Statler retorts, "You mean half the audience is still alive?" * Gary often makes references to some of the musical numbers he sung in earlier scenes. *When Kermit shakes his head and says there's no way they can raise the money to save the theater, Mary sadly observes, "This is going to be a very short movie." This is somewhat a callback to a joke Kermit made to Mr. Tarkanian in ''The Great Muppet Caper. * Fozzie is surprised that they "had that in the budget" in response to an expensive-looking explosion at Gonzo's Royal Flush. *80s Robot suggests they speed things up be picking up the rest of the Muppets by using a montage. Rowlf is upset that his reunion is omitted from the montage. * Fozzie suggests that they travel by map to get to Miss Piggy in Paris, which they subsequently do. *Uncle Deadly comments on the film's charming finale. *In the finale, Marvin Suggs sings: "The movie's almost over, it's time to say 'So long.'" *Tex Richman comments on the fact that they've "already sung this song" during the reprise of "Life's a Happy Song". ''Muppets Most Wanted *The film features the song "We're Doing a Sequel" which comments on the fact that the Muppets are doing another film. * A deleted scene features dialogue that directly and literally breaks the fourth wall. Direct to DVD Films Return of Jafar *The Genie says, directly to the audience, "He's big, he's blue, he's back!" Cinderella III: A Twist in Time *After Cinderella's opening narration, she turns to the screen, giving a little smile. *The King discusses the flaws of Prince Charming's motives (i.e. basing his marriage on the person who fits the glass slipper). Television Shows Animated shows The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh *"Pooh Oughta Be In Pictures" - At the end of the song "'Cause It's Make Believe", Tigger says, directly to the audience, "See you in the Hundred Acre Wood!" *"The Monster Frankenpooh" - Winnie the Pooh reached to the top of the picture while Tigger was making him really big. Darkwing Duck *"The Frequency Fiends" - When Megavolt slams on his brakes and flies through the car's roof, he looks at the audience and says: "Let this be a lesson to you, kids. Always wear your seat belt." 101 Dalmatians: The Series *"Dalmatian Vacation" - As the Dalmatians take a tour of a "Kanine Krunchies" factory, they are told not to mark any territory during the tour. Whizzer gives the audience a look of disappointment. Timon and Pumbaa *"Around the World with Timon and Pumbaa" - At the end of the video, the only way Pumbaa can bring Timon's memories back is by asking the viewers to rewind the tape and watch the film again. Phineas and Ferb *"The Magnificent Few" - When Linda Flynn thinks the boys riding the horses is cute, Phineas looks at the audience and says, "She means well." *"Canderemy" - Baljeet breaks the fourth wall twice: **First, when he mentioned how they made the title sequence, with Buford mentioning that he prefers to give a monkey a shower, which was also in the title sequence. **Second, he also asks how everyone is running in slow motion, and he's not. *"Mission Marvel" - After Perry destroys his Power-Drain-inator early on in special, Doofenshmirtz cries out, "I thought this was gonna be a special extended episode!" *"Phineas and Ferb Save Summer" - When Phineas is yelling out directions to Candace, Buford says, "This must be a special episode; he's yellin' at his sister again." Henry Hugglemonster'' *In each episode, Henry speaks to the audience about what he and/or his friends and family are doing, including explaining details during each plot. Category:Lists Category:Mickey Mouse shorts Category:Who Framed Roger Rabbit Category:Winnie the Pooh Category:The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Category:Aladdin Category:Cinderella Category:The Lion King Category:The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Category:The Wild Category:Bolt Category:Wreck-It Ralph Category:Mary Poppins Category:James and the Giant Peach Category:George of the Jungle Category:The Muppet Movie Category:The Great Muppet Caper Category:The Muppet Christmas Carol Category:Muppet Treasure Island Category:Muppets Most Wanted Category:Darkwing Duck Category:101 Dalmatians Category:Timon and Pumbaa Category:Phineas and Ferb Category:Henry Hugglemonster